Being confined to home and getting essentials,I was getting gloomy and moody. ...Wasn't planning to go out during the period when whole crowd is going out for getaways and trips and parties .Had my bucket list for off beat places but most of them required travelling long distances ,so read lot of travel magazines and blog from other bloggers, finally decided to stay within Maharashtra . Hence reserved my booking for "WAI " by 13th December 2020, after looking at current situations for New year and Christmas demand!!! Decided not to be a part of crowd and follow them.
I involved my mother into this. She is into her 50's so I had to be more careful before deciding transportation , stay ,food and everything.You can call me obsessive over disinfection and sanitising over the whole trip.
As planned along with masks , I added few things such as savlon wipes, gloves, face shield, hand sanitizer , disinfectant spray etc. All in pairs as one set for mom and another set for me. Carried home made food munchies as an option for healthy snacking on the way and to avoid visiting shops or restaurants on the way in order to avoid crowd interaction.
Transportation : Booked Uber intercity option .If I had my travel partner with me would have opted self driven car or bike .So point to add is this adds onto expenditure which would have been minus in case travelled with buddies.I faced an issue where the uber option was available while leaving from Pune but same was not there while coming back from Wai,Satara and I learnt this fact when I was half way enroute to Wai. "WAI" is a town in SATARA district of Maharashtra. So I asked him whether he could pick us back in morning to drop back to Pune. To which he agreed as being a local .Also keep in mind that your uber/ola driver doesn't take a detour just for the sake of filling petrol. I faced this situation where he didn't fill it on the way and took a detour of 10 kms which resulted in 1 hour delay for me . My route was simple to follow NH 48 ,113 kms with a time duration of approx. 2 hours but it went to 3 because of that detour.
Started journey at 9:15 AM thinking that will reach there by 11:00 AM since it was going to take at least 2 hours to reach destination. Uber will cost you Rs. 2k -3k one side, depending on distance and whether there is uber service available back from your destination or not . If there is uber service available back and fro then charges are very nominal and less otherwise it is costly for one side trip ,just like my case as explained by Uber driver Santosh. Tip here would be start one hour early around 8 AM in case you want to have lunch at Anandvan.
We reached around 12:30 PM and were served with kokum welcome drinks,which was refreshing .The temperature was normal with sunny climate and no chilly winter feel. Although the breeze was cooler compared to main road as this was located 7 kms deep inside the Wai forest location off road ,near to Dhom lake. Was greeted by owner "Anand" at the reception along with the staff ( Dharam, Sanjay ,Aditya... sorry but I am unable to recall other two guys name). Was handed over the keys to cottage room .Lot of people were checking out as I estimated who booked it for new year hence that added as a plus point .Provided ID proof for check in and after that my uber was allowed to drive up to my allocated cottage.
Few things that helped me to decide this place was that I was not ready to travel far ; Second not to a place where there is going to be lot of people gatherings; and obviously not those places which are going to be opted by public more.
Accommodation : V resorts have chain of resorts in Bandardara and Wai. Wai is closer to Pune whereas Bhandardara is closer to Mumbai .Resort part of Wai is temporarily closed for covid situation and holiday homes were available for booking so I opted for "One room chalet" to capture the beautiful houses covered in green creepers on one wall and from the front side being surrounded by coconut trees it's a view to gaze on!! Refer images. Also because I wanted to keep backpacking feel alive hence didn't opt for balcony view rooms. There are multiple options for rooms . I did my booking for the first time off Airbnb and reserved the dates of 2nd and 3rd Jan 2021 for my stay via booking.com. This affects your budget remember that. Airbnb saves a lot of money for me most of the time!! I called the staff to confirm whether there are too many bookings for those dates so I could shift further to avoid crowd!! They mentioned that if booking is too much then they call up people and ask them to reserve room by paying half amount upfront, otherwise it's pay on site via Google pay,phone pay or UPI and cash no card swiping options available.
Rooms come in different categories to opt for:
1. Cottage view/ One room chalet - 2 pax
2. Gulmohar - 4 pax
3. One bedroom suite - 2 pax
4. Double room with terrace - 2pax
5. Family room with terrace- 4 pax
6. Deluxe room - 2 pax
Prices vary according to demand and season so Google and check the trend !!
As soon as you enter the premises for cottage area the left side of The cottages are placed in a cascade fashion if you stand on the rooftop terrace of your cottage and look left sideways or right sideways. The front view as I mentioned is covered by corn fields and mountains .Do check my photo blog for same.
At the end of the cottage lane there is another set of accommodations called "GULMOHAR" which is priced higher than cottages and has a big lawn bordered with palm and coconut trees. These accommodations are placed in one single row interconnected without any gaps and divided by their room walls. You can gaze on mountains directly while sitting on a bamboo furniture at the lawn and enjoy the birds chirping.
The backdoor of the cottage room opens up to tall coconut trees planted in linear manner where each cottage has dedicated 3 or 4 coconut trees,Indian gooseberry trees ,palm trees ,chikoo (Sapodilla) trees etc. to surround also creepers hanging here and there from walls. The fence on the backside of cottages is decorated with lamps at regular gaps to illuminate during night. Three tall chimneys and dry shells of coconuts can be seen highlighting the rustic look of the view. Just beyond the fence is the next set of accommodations called " INDRADHANU" it is more of like modern homes with private floor view balconies to gaze upon the green lawns below . The front common entrance to the building has a big orchard with Sapodilla (Chikoo) laden trees ,tall coconut trees and children park stuffs. There is a different segment of accommodation available under "Sweet stay" which one can find just near the entrance these are little bit bigger ones and better in facilities as compared to other ones.
Car parking is available inside the holiday homes just near your respective accommodations.
Food : I booked one night stay inclusive of lunch , dinner and breakfast. Menu consists of both non-veg and veg. Its a self serving buffet where you need to mention them in case you need non-veg food as it is not served proactively.The dining area near the entrance to the right is the one for dinner and breakfast. In case you have opted for lunch then the dining area is located at a lower area from the reception.
We had our lunch at around 2 PM on arrival. Lunch was simple vegetarian authentic Maharashtrian cuisine. Dinner was also authentic Maharashtrian veg cuisine with "BHAKRI" and "Varle Wangi Curry " and few more stuff I am unable to recall it now. Next day breakfast consisted of upma, poha, bread butter and jam alongwith toasted bread and omlette as I mentioned them for non veg!!
It was relaxing stay so didn't plan to go out for activities of lake exploration or other activities that you can opt for.Tea and coffee are served in the beverage area which is located directly in front of reception area.
Evening was pleasant with less people around us it was calm away from all tensions and anxiety in a world of forest therapy.While sipping tea we came in contact with a newly wed IT couple Apurva and Ajinkiya .They both were there to getaway from WFH monotone . So we caught the common interests of travels ,professions and food . They offered us to travel back with them as they heard about the inconvenience we faced due to Uber detour. Another reason was as they were travelling almost 70% via the same route .We chatted for hours !! Food !! Travel!! IT jobs !! Career !!Families etc. Don't worry ,masks were on for all of us and distancing maintained.By 9:30 PM we all had dinner.
There is no TV or wifi in the rooms hence it disconnects you from clinging to your cellphones or gadgets. As well the internet connectivity for cellphones is not so good hence it compels you to go out and absorb the nature ,explore and live the experience.
DAY 2
Woke up around 6 AM in morning next day and was mesmerised by the foggy view of the mountains ...covered in partial fog tall coconut trees ....the feeling and setup reminds you as if you are either in Kerala or Goa .Texted uber driver that will be travelling with friends as we agreed to share petrol expenses for our part.We freshened up and went for breakfast.After that we decided to have a farm visit which is located in close vicinity to the Holiday home.Its within 500 metres walking distance out of the location. The entire farm is maintained by locals . Red cabbages ,green cabbages , green chillies ,tomatoes , white radish ,peas ,spinach ,coriander, strawberries, spring onions ,garlic ,corn almost all being cultivated and procured organically from there. We saw almost half the people who came to Anandvan, while checkout went up for farm visit and purchased bags of locally grown veggies . The payment is in cash form as I had a word with CHANDU and his wife who locally grow veggies and sell them there. He is a school bus driver in Pune. After almost 30 minutes of farm exploration we purchased locally grown veggies and strawberries and tip toed back to Anandvan.
Do enjoy having strawberries by freshly plucking them from farm!! Chandu will be aiding you and explaining you all about the farming stuff.
It is a PET FRIENDLY location !! I also love paw babies let it be cats or dogs !! You will get a chance to meet "FROSTY" the pet dog of Anandvan he is mostly found near the reception area or soaking winter sun near the dining entrance. Some of my photos have him as the main character being captured. I also got a chance to meet a lovely husky named "AURA" .Her owners were travelling via GOA and reached there as destination for end of their holidays .
By 10:00 AM we changed our clothes and settled the bill payment and returned keys.Checkout is by default around 11:30 AM.
Do check my photoblog for various captures for the day!!
I bookmarked Anandvan as a must detox getaway and will be one of my favourites to visit again and again in case I felt like getting cluttered with work and urban life.
From my side the food ,the place ,the staff ,owner and everything was just awesome no doubts that it has been rated so good so many times by families,backpackers,solo travellers, group travellers as well.
Address : Gat No.825,Hotel Anandvan,Wai-Jor Road Pasarni, village, Wai, Maharashtra 412803
Nearby explorations:
Dhom lake : approx 3-4kms
Panchgani : 13kms
Mapro garden : 13 kms